Chapter 194
Chapter 194
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 194
Chapter Title: Adoptive Bond 3
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Jiswah was someone who truly believed in the Verdant Order's doctrines. To him, Azadin was the recipient of divine revelation, so even when Azadin said he had no intention of seizing the cult, it only looked like humility in his eyes.
‘As expected of the chosen one. How humble.’
That admiration made Jiswah all the more eager to spread this gospel to everyone.
“Attack.”
As the Celestial Lord, he naturally couldn’t tolerate Azadin’s existence. From the perspective of the Celestial Lord, who had gained power by using Grimslown’s body, Azadin—who had been chosen directly by Grimslown—was an utter thorn in his side.
“…Good grief.”
Azadin lightly tossed Grimslown’s club, which he held in his hand. The club spun around him in circles before smashing into the spears pointed his way.
The spear shafts snapped and bent. Grimslown’s club moderated its force when striking people, but it showed no mercy to inanimate objects.
“Huh!?”
“Gah?!”
Those holding the spears dropped them in shock from the impact transmitted through their hands.
They had been stripped of weapons and even their clothes when entering the audience chamber. As they panicked, not having anticipated this, Azadin nocked an arrow, picked up a broken spear shaft, and set it on the bowstring.
Without fletching or wings, it wouldn’t fly far, but it was more than sufficient for indoor range. At this distance, Azadin could pierce the Celestial Lord with ease.
‘But I can’t kill the Celestial Lord here. Why would Brtuma’s king have spared him for no reason?’
The Verdant Order members were a latent threat. To manage them effectively, Brtuma’s king had officially recognized the order.
If Azadin killed the Celestial Lord here, the organization would collapse. So instead, he kept the spear shaft nocked as a warning.
“Withdraw your soldiers at once. I don’t want to harm your brethren. Celestial Lord.”
“You bastard, Jiswah. Did you send him to Adiloph just to pull this on me…?”
“That’s not it, Celestial Lord. Things are getting complicated, so why not clear the room and talk with me?”
Azadin chuckled at the Celestial Lord’s reaction.
The man hadn’t always been this foolish. Did power turn people into idiots?
Shouldn’t the Celestial Lord, who ruled them, at least recognize that Jiswah was someone who pursued the doctrines purely, regardless of power?
‘He’s overly wary of me because he thinks Jiswah would pull the same stunt as him. Tsk.’
Azadin hurled the spear shaft at the Celestial Lord, who showed no sign of listening.
“First, left ear!”
-Thwack!
As the shaft pierced his foot, the Celestial Lord’s scream soon followed.
“C-Celestial Lord!”
The startled men tried to rush forward, but Grimslown’s club, dancing in the air, instantly smashed the jaw of the nearest one.
Those who saw the club strike and knock out a man on its own froze in place.
“Uh…”
“Hear me, those who seek to walk the Way of the Azure Heavens.”
Azadin shouted to the panicking Verdant Order members.
“I have come here to convey Grimslown’s revelation. In addition to the first revelation given to the Celestial Lord, I come as the envoy of the god who wishes to elevate him to a higher realm. Any who dare approach without the qualification to receive revelation will die.”
“B-But you just wounded the Celestial Lord!”
In the meantime, Azadin picked up another spear shaft and shot it from the bow.
“Right ear!”
“Arrrgh!”
“That wound is a holy stigmata. It is the mark the Celestial Lord must bear to receive revelation and become a greater being, so harbor no doubts.”
Azadin stated this with shameless composure and picked up a third spear shaft.
“Argh! A-All right! I get it! Everyone, withdraw!”
Only now did the Celestial Lord realize that Azadin could kill him at any moment but was deliberately holding back, and he ordered the soldiers to retreat.
“Jiswah, you withdraw too.”
“Me too?”
“Yes. Go watch for any more troops approaching and let me know.”
Azadin sent even Jiswah away under the pretext of assigning him as a lookout.
“Ugh… Satisfied now?”
The Celestial Lord sensed something was off once Azadin had sent Jiswah away too.
“Whew. Good. You’re not completely clueless. Celestial Lord. Lucky for you, I was wondering where to aim next besides your ears.”
“Ugh…”
“Ah, shall we talk face-to-face?”
Azadin climbed onto the dais where the Celestial Lord sat and examined his foot. A pretty boy, bleeding from his ear, lay collapsed on the floor, pressing a silk cloth to it to staunch the blood while groaning.
“You the Celestial Lord? Or a proxy?”
“I-I am the Celestial Lord himself. This is due to Grimslown’s influence…”
“You look younger than your daughter. But you do seem like one of Grimslown’s kin.”
Azadin had received Grimslown’s oracle but hadn’t taken its fluids into his body, so he wasn’t kin. Still, being this close, he could faintly sense the power of Grimslown emanating from the Celestial Lord.
“First off, sorry. I kept warning him, but Jiswah truly believes in your religion, so he wouldn’t listen and dragged me here.”
“……”
“As you can see, it’s true that I have Grimslown’s body in my possession, but as a Herald clansman, I have no interest in your cult. What concerns me is preventing the Herald traitors from allying with the Naga Empire to invade Brtuma like they did Kolasar.”
“What exactly do you want?”
“Provide relief to the people of the lowlands. Give them shelter from the rain and food. And have your cult support Brtuma’s defenses with all your resources?”
“Doing that won’t last long. Once the siege begins, the cult’s stockpiles will deplete rapidly… Brtuma’s king may have recognized our faith, but I doubt he’ll prioritize aid to us if supplies run short during war.”
“Who knows? He recognized your religion due to public opinion, not because he’s convinced by your doctrines. But after you’ve devoted yourselves to Brtuma’s defense, could he discard you like used rags? Public opinion will be even more on your side then.”
“You don’t get it. When food runs short, they go berserk.”
“Berserk?”
Azadin was startled. Naturally, memories of the berserk incidents in Baron Adiloph’s territory flashed through his mind.
“Yes. Even Verdant Order members who consume untainted elixir will devour people if they feel their lives threatened by lack of food.”
“…What the hell did you feed them to turn people into such monsters?”
“It’s better than suffering from malaria and fevers. You… You look like you’re from the north, yet you haven’t been plagued by local diseases, it seems.”
“Well, mosquitoes don’t bite me, and I boil all my water before drinking.”
“Is that possible…?”
“I did get a bit sick, actually. But fortunately, I haven’t caught anything serious yet. Anyway, don’t worry about food supplies. Bel Hoda has promised aid.”
“What? Bel Hoda? Those arrogant sugarcane plantation owners who think the world is theirs?”
“Arrogant fools who think the world is theirs…”
Azadin sneered at the Celestial Lord, who had elevated himself with such pompous ceremony moments ago. As the saying went, one sees the speck in another’s eye but not the beam in one’s own.
A leader of a new religion probably had to intoxicate himself like this to get by.
“I’ve persuaded the Bel Hoda plantation owners. So no need to worry about that.”
“You seem awfully confident. Any other demands?”
“Yes. The enemies I know will target Brtuma’s Quartz Throne to weaken the King’s Radiance before the Nagas launch a full invasion. I want to stop that. Can you introduce me to someone well-versed in Brtuma’s throne and castle structure?”
“Hah, I happen to know just the person.”
“Who?”
“Manja-Zadek.”
“Manja-Zadek? Brtuma’s king?”
“Indeed.”
“You can introduce me?”
“Yes. But can a Herald clansman dare meet the king?”
“What’s the big deal? We’re all just humans eating bread and drinking tea. And I’d be meeting him with the Verdant Order’s endorsement, right? Even better if Manja-Zadek permits it. Investigating legally is preferable to sneaking in to touch the throne.”
“…….”
“It’d be great if you could arrange it quickly. Now, what do I need to do to stabilize your cult?”
“What?”
“I showed up out of nowhere and damaged your authority. There must be something I can do to make up for it. I’ll agree as long as it’s not too outrageous.”
“You’re reasonable. You’re really not here to usurp my cult?”
“I told you, no. Of course, I do want those who massacred innocents in Adiloph to pay for their crimes, but I’m devoting myself to saving Brtuma’s people. For now, I need help averting the immediate catastrophe.”
“You’re a strange one. You’re really doing all this just to stop the Nagas from invading Brtuma?”
“Hey. When you first founded the Verdant Order, didn’t you think the same? Seeing how Jiswah believes in and adores you, it probably wasn’t like this at the start.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You’ve lost your original pure intent, so even Jiswah’s actions look like schemes to steal your power. Jiswah isn’t like that.”
When Azadin insisted Jiswah’s motives were pure, the Celestial Lord scoffed.
“Anyone claims they act from pure goodwill. Even those hiding a knife behind their back.”
“But failing to distinguish true goodwill from false is pretty foolish too. You’re just paranoid from too many power struggles. For starters, Jiswah isn’t smart enough to dive into power games. He’s too… purely minded for that. His head is overly ‘innocent’ to care about power.”
In other words, Azadin was saying Jiswah was too stupid to engage in intrigue.
“So you’re saying you’ve come purely to save Brtuma, with no interest in power?”
“Yes.”
“As if such pure goodwill exists. Especially from a Herald clansman. I thought Heralds were monsters starved for blood and slaughter.”
“Even those Heralds have complicated internal affairs right now.”
“Hmm. Very well. I’ll recommend you to Manja-Zadek. But first, there’s something you need to know. To restore my authority. You promised, remember?”
“Fine. What is it? I’ll do it as long as it’s not too much. It’s in my interest for you to run the cult well too.”
“It’s simple if simple, complex if complex. Depends on how you take it.”
“…Why make it so complicated?”
As Azadin asked, the Celestial Lord took a deep breath. Was he bracing himself, knowing his words might provoke Azadin into becoming an enemy?
The resolved Celestial Lord spoke.
“You become my adopted son.”
“…….”
Azadin was remarkably sharp, but it took him a moment to process the Celestial Lord’s words.
“What? Adopted son? Me? Yours?”